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These soft-batch style, grain-free pumpkin cookies are delicious to enjoy any season of the year. Making them in the Fall with homemade purée from locally sourced pumpkins is highly recommended for the best flavor.
I love to make this particular pumpkin cookies recipe not only because it is grain-free (to mix things up), but also because it includes a vegetable as the primary ingredient.
Since the nourishing minerals in vegetables are not well absorbed without healthy fat, this recipe includes plenty of grass-fed butter and coconut oil.
The flavor of these cookies really pops if you skip the canned purée and make it fresh! I demonstrate the simple process in video format here: how to make pumpkin purée.
Gorgeous pumpkins are everywhere in the Fall. Take advantage of the local bounty and make a batch of delicious pumpkin cookies for your family that will both nourish and delight their taste buds!
If you enjoy these pumpkin spice cookies, try this recipe for pumpkin bread too. If you would like to use pumpkin purée in a savory dish, this traditional pumpkin soup is amazing.
Hint: Try making pumpkin spice breakfast oatmeal with some of that purée too!
Preparation Tips
Sweet potato may be substituted for pumpkin as desired.
Make sure the baked pumpkin purée you use is moist yet firm. If it is very runny, the dough will be too wet.
If you are avoiding starch, substitute finely ground nut flour of choice. Homemade almond flour is ready in a jiffy using a coffee grinder.
Do not use honey for this recipe. Baking with honey is not a recommended traditional cooking practice.
Substitute potato, tapioca or cassava starch for the arrowroot (or a blend) if you prefer. Using potato starch adds the nutritional benefits of resistant starch to the cookies once they’ve fully cooled.
Pumpkin Spice Cookies (grain-free)
These soft-batch style, grain-free pumpkin cookies are delicious to enjoy any season of the year. Making them in the Fall with homemade purée is highly recommended for the best flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée
- 1 1/2 cups arrowroot powder
- 1/4 cup grassfed butter
- 1/4 cup expeller pressed coconut oil
- 1 egg preferably pastured or free range
- 3/4 cup sucanat or coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ceylon cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 °F/177 °C
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Process all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.
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Form ping pong sized balls from the dough on greased and lightly floured cookie sheets (expeller pressed coconut oil and arrowroot flour recommended).
Alternatively, make one giant cookie and shape the batter with a knife into a pumpkin with a stem. This saves time and works well if you prefer a cookie cake.
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Bake cookies for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and press down each pumpkin cookie with a fork. Skip this step if you made a cookie cake with the batter.
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Return cookies to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
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Remove cookies from the oven, cool and serve.
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Store cookies in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Pumpkin Cookies (Grain Free) – The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/oKen1y17
we have family members with nut/dairy allergies, which makes things more difficult
What is arrowroot powder and where can I get it?
Healthfood stores have arrowroot flour. It is a starch made from a root of the arrowroot plant.
These look great. I would definitely play with the type of flour though… not sure I want to eat cookies that are pure starch?? Coconut with a balance of almond will work well.
Feel free to use as much nut flour as you like although arrowroot is very easily digested by most.
Just made them this afternoon: http://www.sostinkinhappy.com/2011/10/grain-free-pumpkin-cookies.html
They are lovely and delicious, too. Thanks for another great recipe, Sarah.
Wow! You are amazing to get them done that quickly! 🙂
So glad you like them. We love them too.
I made them while I was talking on the phone with my mom. It was a great way to spend the afternoon. 🙂
Just out of curiosity – not trying to create a debate here- but are arrowroot powder and nut flours traditional foods, that were traditionally eaten that way?
Many natives people mashed/crushed nuts to make a base for other recipes. The Native Americans here in So. Cal. used acorns and processed them until they were edible. So, while the nut flours that you buy might not be a perfect replication of traditional nut pastes, it is a good modern way to go grainless. Plus, you can make your own. 🙂
Arrowroot is the powdered form of a tuber and has traditional medicinal purposes. It has been used in food prep for several hundred years, so I guess the question is, how do you define traditional and how close to ancient practices do you want to be? 🙂
Arrowroot has been cultivated for over 7,000 years as a food.
I love using Arrowroot powder. From what I’ve read, it’s a powerhouse of nutrients.
I was just thinking about trying to find a recipe for grain free pumpkin cookies……….THANKS!!!!! I used to like making a conventional recipe for Halloween but can’t anymore so this solves the problem.
Sounds good, I’m going to try these. Can I just grind almonds/pecans in the blender to make ‘flour’?
Yes, make sure you soak the raw nuts in salted water/dehydrate before grinding to significantly improve digestibility and nutrient absorption.
Sarah, is this almond flour (ie finely grounded blanched almonds) or regular old almonds grounded for the recipe?
The Professor and I *LOVE* all things pumpkin. Can’t wait to try this recipe: http://t.co/k4S17l0v
Can’t wait to try making these. Is there a reason for the arrowroot powder? I’ve never baked with it yet…
Arrowroot is a sub for a grain based flour like wheat or rice.
You can also cook it in the crock pot.